Canadian Watershed Information Network

The Canadian Watershed Information Network (CANWIN), formerly the Lake Winnipeg Basin Information Network, is a web based open access data and information network created by Environment Canada as part of the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative under Canada’s Action Plan on clean water. It was created in order to help address key water quality issues within the lake and its contributing watersheds. In 2012 management of the network transferred to the University of Manitoba under CEOS.

The Nelson River Watershed covers over 1 million square km. It covers 4 (four) Canadian provinces and four (4) U.S. States. The CANWIN provides a central open access data hub where researchers, decision makers, government agencies, organizations and the community can visualize and view the WHO, WHAT WHEN and WHERE of the basin. (Who is working in the basin, and WHAT, WHEN and WHERE are they doing it?); Searchable maps and tables of research allow users to gain a better understanding of the projects and activities occurring within the basin.

The CANWIN aims to aids research, education and decision making in the basin through three key strategies: Aid Transparency, Build Understanding, Create Awareness.

These key strategies allow the CANWIN to facilitate the management of natural and anthropogenic resources in the basin by integrating multiple information and data sources and expertise into a central open access resource.